Poor Homeowners and Their Roof Problems

Poor Homeowners and Their Roof Problems

For poor people, especially poor elderly people, the cost of a new roof is beyond them. The whole house can fail if a hole in the roof is left unattended.

All it takes is one 18-inch-by-18-inch hole in the roof of a house to allow in the elements and bring the structure down in about a decade. A smaller hole will cause havoc as well.

Leaking roofs create one or more of these issues:

The wood sheathing under the roof tile can rot. This will lead to the 18-inch-by-18-inch hole that will ruin the house.

The wooden roof rafters can rot, causing the roof to collapse.

Water can get trapped in insulation or other porous material and cause rot inside the house.

Water can get trapped in insulation or other porous material and cause mold inside the house.

Water can get trapped in living areas. It won’t dry out quickly from walls or ceiling plaster. This leads to dripping ceilings and falling plaster.

If water gets trapped in living areas, it won’t dry out quickly from walls or ceiling plaster. This leads to a pandemic mold issue, making a house uninhabitable.

For poor people, it makes every rain a cause for trepidation. If they cannot repair it, how long can they live there? If the cannot repair it, who would buy it? Here’s a musical interlude, Don’t Let the Rain Come Down. And now a happy story for Labor Day.

Wonderful things happen in communities, sometimes by accident. In North Carolina, a minister who is also a roofer gave classes to encourage people who wanted a career as a roofer. He thinks it is a good job to have and more people should consider learning how.

At one class, the only people who came were a handful of middle-aged women. They did a roof with the teacher; they had a blast doing it together. They decided to become a collective that repairs roofs of people who can’t pay to do it. They are up to 113 roofs when this video was made. (link)

Mike and the crew are in Forest City, North Carolina to learn more about the Women Roofers. A collective of tenacious women of a certain age, who are making an impact by fixing roofs for local residents in need.